11.01.2021 / Statement

Texas’ Unjust Abortion Law is a Threat to Women’s Reproductive Health, Equality, Civil Rights

WASHINGTON, DC – Families USA executive director Frederick Isasi issued the following statement today as the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments on two cases challenging the Texas law banning most abortions in the state:

“Texas’s outrageous law effectively eliminates the basic ability of women to choose whether or when to have a child. That on its own would be bad enough, but its scheme to set up a vigilante system of enforcement threatens all of our constitutional rights, including free speech and marriage equality. If the Court fails to reject Texas’ unlawful actions, Texas women will be wholly denied access to abortion services, defying nearly 50 years of constitutional precedence and jeopardizing the lives and health of women in Texas. These laws are unconstitutional and must not stand.

“Shamefully, the effect of the law before the Court today falls hardest on women of color and low-income women. These are the same women who are already dealing with the worst impacts of the pandemic and our nation’s devastating maternal mortality crisis. Further threatening their health and well-being, and exacerbating health and economic disparities is unconscionable.

“While Texans losing the right to abortion is bad enough, SB 8’s scheme goes even further in eviscerating the U.S. Constitution. It sets up a vigilante system of enforcement that could be used to evade many more constitutionally-protected civil rights, from free speech and voting rights to marriage equality.

“Families USA urges the Supreme Court to reject this law, which undermines women’s constitutional access to reproductive health care services and threatens constitutionally-protected civil rights, especially laws that hinder our ability to create a more just and equitable society. Failing to reject these laws puts Texans’ health and well-being in grave danger.”

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